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In his five-minute address last night, Mitch Daniels referred to other statesâ?? fiscal woes no fewer than four times.

Daniels, who is so fiscally conservative that one wonders whether he darns his own socks, is rightfully proud that his state
hasnâ??t fooled away a strong financial position. Few governors have had the backbone to impose such discipline on their legislatures.

Last night, though, Daniels said heâ??s willing to spend a quarter of the surplus as one of several compromises to get a budget
passed, leaving about $1 billion remaining.

How do you feel about spending down some of the surplus? The economy is nowhere near recovered, and some forecasters talk
of a possible double-dip recession or a recovery requiring not months but years.

Should Daniels bargain away even a quarter of the reserve at this point?

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Enterprise/Opinion Editor

Heikens writes about manufacturing and entrepreneurship and edits Focus coverage at IBJ as well as the opinion and editorial pages. He also moderates the opinion website INforefront.com. He’s in his second tour of duty at IBJ, having reported on the economy at The Indianapolis Star from 1998 to 2006. A native of Iowa, he graduated from Southern Illinois University with a major in journalism, and was a reporter in Illinois and taught English in Japan. He lives near Franklin with his wife, son and hooligan dogs, and enjoys hiking.

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